Mosaic Broken Hearts
by justonemorejanedoe
Summary: Swan dive down eleven stories.. Life during warfare is difficult, if not impossible. Join the reflections on Catherine McCoy's tumultuous relationship with Sirius Black and her undying friendship with Remus Lupin as they mature from children at Hogwarts to battle hardened freedom fighters of the Order. Ft. Marauders & Co!
1. Prologue

Alright this story has been bouncing around in my head for ages and I finally decided to do something about it... So here goes nothing! Please review and let me know what you think, as I love criticism. Once I get the ball rolling on this story I think it could have great potential. Just so you know this chapter doesn't include Sirius but like I said just let me get the ball rolling first. Enjoy!

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Remus Lupin, face blotchy and swollen from crying, sat at across from a stout wizard in a small meeting room above the Leaky Cauldron. Even though two flights of stairs, separated the wizards from the magical pub, raucous laughter and celebration was audible from the barroom below. Remus felt a twinge of guilt. Shouldn't he be celebrating as well? The war was over! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was gone and the wizarding world was at peace! Such an occasion should have merited at least a bottle of firewhiskey (or two) to be downed by Remus and his loved ones. There was the kicker. No loved ones remained. The events of the past month had left the young werewolf looking much older and more ragged than ever. Now, he was left with no money or estate, four friends murdered and a fifth responsible for the betrayal which lead to each demise. Remus felt a pang of loneliness as each of their faces flashed before his ,the carefree image of James along with his beautiful wife. Remus could almost hear Lily's laughter as she joked with poor Peter or as she complained good-naturedly to Catherine about the antics that James and Sirius would get up to.

At the thought of Sirius Black, any and all loneliness was replaced by cold hard betrayal. All of this was Sirius' fault. He had been their friend, then stabbed them all in the back with a knife as cold as his soul must have been..

A man's wheezy voice drew Remus from his malicious thoughts, and back to reality.

"As you already know, I have with me," said the plump ministry employee, "The last Will and Testament of Catherine Victoria McCoy."

Remus' voice failed him, so he responded with a simple nod. What more could be said anyway. "Well," continued the wizard, " I'll leave this with you." Indicating the documents and small wooden crate. "If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to write me." Again all Remus could manage was a nod.

The short balding man rose and made his way to the door, but just before reaching it, he turned back to the werewolf adding, "I am so very sorry for your loss, sir."

Remus, slightly moved by the sincerity in the man's voice, croaked out a "Thank you."

It was several minutes after the Ministry employee exited, that Remus forced himself to examine the belongings of the young woman, who was closer than a sister to him. First, he picked up the pile of parchment and began to read. Attached to the list of possessions that Catherine had left to Remus was letter addressed to him in her handwriting, it was very neat and precise. Examining the list, he discovered that Kate had left him her small, disused estate in the country and the small sum of gold she had. Remus was so deeply touched. Kate had left him virtually everything she had worked for in her short life. A lump formed in his throat as he realised with a jolt that just how recently Kate had this will drawn up.

He could understand perfectly well what would have pushed Catherine to take her own life. Ever since he could remember, Cathy had been just a little unstable, not to say that she was bonkers, but her mindset grew steadily more fragile as the war went on. In her last days, Cathy had held a look so frail that she resembled a thin sheet of glass bearing the weight of the world, about to fracture and crumble at any second. Remus knew that look well, he saw it everytime he looked in the mirror.

Remus gingerly unfolded the letter. Elegant and dainty handwriting greeted him. A tiny smile threatened the corner of his mouth as he remembered how much of a perfectionist Cathy had always been. The ghost of a smile vanished, replacing itself with a frown of pain as the letter went on:

My Dearest Remus,

Darling, I'm so sorry that the sad saga of our days must end in so dismal a way. I know that I am not the only one who can say that I cannot remember the last time in life when I was wholly content and at peace with my life.

I suppose if you are reading this, that would mean that by now you know I am gone. I cannot tell you how strange it is to be writing a letter of such nature. You will find that I have left you the what little gold and and estate I have. I wish I had more to offer you but we both know how difficult money was to come by while working with the Order.

Please understand that I do love you dearly, Remus. Do not think for a moment that this decision was an easy one for me to make or that I did not consider how this would affect you. You were the only person I had in my life, and I have you to thank for taking me in when I was scared and alone. I love you like I did my real brother, though you've proved to be so much more. Indeed you have been the solid rock with which I was able to rebuild my life and return to some sort of normalcy. A normalcy, which as you well know, was ripped to shreds by the events of the past few months.

You also understand the pain of betrayal and loneliness I feel, however, I must say that you are (and have always been) a great deal stronger than I. I simply cannot convey how truly sorry I am and how earnestly I wish for the old days again. You know what I speak of. Our Glory Days. The carefree days bringing nothing but sunshine and laughter, witty banter from our dearest friends. Now our friends have gone, Remus, and the Glory Days as well. I fear that we are never to see those days again.

I'm sorry that I can give you no more closure than this. After all this pain and angst, I just cannot go on; each day seems to bring even more pain than the one before. I do, however, wish you the best of luck. I'll make sure to give Lily and the boys your best.

All My Love,

Catherine

A new wave of sobs escaped Remus Lupin's withered soul. All of the pain of the past few months poured out. The rage he felt towards Sirius- his childhood friend who had been in liege with Voldemort the whole time. The grief at losing James and Pete, Lily and Catherine. And now the bitterness towards Cathy. She had given up. She took the easy way out and gave up like a weak fool, leaving Remus more alone than ever.

Remus didn't know how long he had sat with his head upon the table, choking on sobs of pure anguish and grieving his own misfortune. By the time he did manage to regain his wits, however, the sky had grown considerably darker. He resolved to stay the night at the Leaky Cauldron. He would worry about everything else tomorrow, after all, tomorrow was another day.


	2. Chapter I

It is a generally accepted thought that all members of family, except for your own of course, are devoted to one another and exist in complete harmony. The general public would believe that each of their families were an theirs was the only one for miles that existed not in harmony, but in discord, confusion, or hatred (or quite possibly a mixture of all three.) This is not so. The statement can be made with certainty that the majority of families have their fair share of skeletons and dysfunction hidden in away in a closet or swept under a mat. I envy those lucky enough to say that theirs is a family which can coexist in good will and kinship, and dearly hope that you do not take for granted the unity in your family, for it is not easy to come by.

On the subject of those households which fail to coincide with harmony, this does come in varying degrees. Some as simple as sibling rivalry, while others much too complex to trace the source of real and true hatred.

Catherine McCoy did not have the satisfaction of belonging to the minority of families which were able to maintain good will and kinship, nor did she have the satisfaction of belonging to a family whose discord was mild and endurable. No, Catherine had the displeasure to be born into a family whose members were destined to live in hatred and despise one another. A household whose family tree would slowly decay and rot from the bitter and contemptuous feelings shared by it's affiliates.

"Robert," said she to her brother one evening as they sat alone in the family parlour partaking in a game of Wizard's Chess, "I can't wait for Hogwarts. When school starts in the fall, I can leave here and never come back!" Indeed, eleven year old Catherine, who had received her acceptance letter from the school of witchcraft and wizardry earlier that day, wished nothing more than to pack her belongings and attend the school that her siblings had told her so much about. The far away castle held much more wonder than simply a place where she could learn to be a witch as talented as her late mother and meet new friends with whom she could adventure and explore. Even at eleven, Catherine could hardly wait to escape the passive aggressive hatred that fueled the family that she had the misfortune to be born into. Deplorably, young Cathy had experienced more bitterness and hostility at the age of eleven than many adults would in a lifetime. As for her eldest brother, Robert, there was no doubting he had been forever scarred by the angry emotions that had surrounded him for nineteen years.

Robert's handsome face contorted into a sneer at what he deemed a childish remark.

"What would ever make you say that? For the next seven years you'll be cooped up in a castle surrounded by mudbloods, and just as many blood traitors."

The contemptuous comment hadn't surprised Catherine at all, on the contrary it was rather what she had expected. Though Robert more often than not treated his youngest sister contemptuously bordering on abusively, Catherine admired him all the same, for he was still a great deal kinder to her than their drunk of a father or their passive aggressive aunt who had moved in to Mr. McCoy's estate on the event of Mrs. McCoy's death just a few years prior.

"I only meant to say that I'll be able to make friends and learn magic. Even mudbloods and blood traitors couldn't ruin that." The little girl, though mature enough to understand that a mudblood was simply a derogatory term for muggle born, didn't really understand why they were so scrutinized. All the same, she wished more than anything for approval from her brother and so went along with his criticism.

Robert scoffed at the remark.

**"****As long as you keep thinking like that, you'll be just fine."**


End file.
